The inventions described and claimed herein relate to price channels that attach to the front edge of display shelving in retail stores. The primary application of the inventions described and claimed herein is for warehouse-type retail stores that use wood or wood composite shelving, which typically includes metal-reinforced front and rear edges.
Warehouse-type retail stores that sell items in bulk are becoming more popular. Because the bulk items typically come in large quantities, they are heavy and the store's entire stock is may be kept on display. These warehouse-type retail stores use shelving units that were originally designed to be used as storage room shelving, such as the Lozier® S-Series Storage Shelving. These storage room shelving units were not intended to be used as display shelving for consumers and, thus, were not designed to allow for easy attachment of pricing labels. Conversely, typical display shelving units at more conventional retail outlets usually have some means for attaching labels on the front edge of the shelves such as a C-shaped channel into which labels or label holders can be attached.
Because it is important to clearly display advertising, quantity information, pricing and other information directly adjacent to items for sale at retail, the warehouse-type retail stores have resorted to various methods of attaching labels to the front edge of the shelves, such as using adhesive tape, nails, and screws, which have proved unsatisfactory. Adhesive tape is troublesome for the retailers because it is messy and provides insufficient grip on the shelves. As prices or items for sale change, it becomes necessary to change and/or move the pricing labels. The adhesive tape currently used can leave residue on the shelves which is unsightly and time-consuming to remove. Furthermore, labels attached by adhesive tape often fall off of the shelves when consumers either brush up against them or remove items from the shelves. Using nails and screws is even more troublesome because it is time consuming to install and remove labels, not to mention that permanent holes are left in the shelving units when the labels are removed.
Therefore, there is a need for a label channel which can be easily attached to and removed from the leading edge of an industrial shelving unit and which does not leave residue on or otherwise damage the shelves. The label channel of the present invention provides a better method of attaching labels because it results in an improved installation time, an improved grip on the shelf when compared to adhesive, and no damage to the shelves.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention, the clip-on price channel, is designed to clip onto the leading edge of storage room shelving, which are typically made of wood-based composite material (such as particle board) and have a metal rail permanently attached to the front and rear edges. Specifically, the clip-on price channel disclosed and claimed herein has a U-shaped grip that closely conforms to the shape of the edge of the shelf (i.e., the metal rail, if present) and a label holder which is designed to hold a sign or information sheet. At the free ends of the grip, there are two inward facing fingers that are disposed in recesses on the top and bottom surfaces of the shelf. If a metal rail is used, the fingers grip the edges of the metal rail. Where a metal rail is used the upper arm of the metal rail angles toward the lower arm. The upper arm angles at its edge where the clip-on price channel finger grips. The upper arm angles into a groove on the upper surface of the wood-based shelving. The metal rail upper arm angles at the end so as to avoid any jagged edges or abutments on the surface of the shelf. This allows for easy sliding on and off of items on the shelf. The label holder is attached to the grip of the price channel by a connector that may be in the form of a flexible hinge to allows the label holder to flex up and out of the way when the price channel is attached to the shelf and products on the shelf below are removed.
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and that the embodiments are sometimes illustrated by graphic symbols, phantom lines, diagrammatic representations and fragmentary views. In certain instances, details which are not necessary for an understanding of the inventions described and claimed herein or which render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the inventions described herein are not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.
The upper arm 20 of the shelf grip 2 angles 52 toward the lower arm 21 right before the upper finger 5 extends at free end 7 to conform with the angle on the metal rail.